


The Pendant

by Arwen88



Category: Band of Brothers (TV 2001)
Genre: Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Canon-Typical Violence, Established Relationship, Fluff, Light Angst, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-14
Updated: 2021-01-14
Packaged: 2021-03-12 12:28:52
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,529
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28760316
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Arwen88/pseuds/Arwen88
Summary: Babe fiddled with the lithe golden chain around his neck, his fingers finding time and time again the clasp to open the pendant in what had quickly become a nervous tick since the days in Hagenau.He dropped his gaze to the pictures and brushed his thumb over Bill's, his heart squeezing in his chest at the thought of soon seeing him once more.
Relationships: Bill Guarnere/Edward "Babe" Heffron
Comments: 5
Kudos: 9





	The Pendant

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to mucca for betareading this <3  
> Written for the Maritombola of LDF.

The party was in full swing, everybody in Bill's circle of friends trying to have fun and cheer him and the others that had been drafted together, about to be sent to be tested and then sorted into different divisions.

Bill had his hopes set on the paratroopers since they had said they would pay more money to whoever managed to enter one of their divisions. His family needed that money, and Bill's partner did too, if Bill could manage to spare some money to send home to him too.

God knew Babe slaved for just a few dollars a month. Bill had always hoped to grow up as the kind of alpha that could take care of his omega, and he saw entering the paratroopers as his first chance to do so.

Bill took hold of a couple sodas and turned to search for Babe in the midst of their friends, and found him sitting back on a beaten down couch, surrounded by laughter that he didn't join. Bill had been worried about him for a while, fully knowing that no matter how hard Babe tried to not have him concerned, he simply wasn't laughing anymore, a frown between his brows and his shoulders tense the closer they came to the moment Bill would take the train with everybody else.

"Move, ya." He kicked the foot of the guy sitting closer to Babe, and shared a grin with Babe when their friend huffed but scooted over to give him enough space to wedge himself between them. "Here," he said in a lower voice, handing Babe his soda. "Having fun?" He tried to be as nonchalant as possible as he passed an arm behind Babe's shoulders, a little part of him deeply satisfied to feel Babe lean against his side right away.

"Better now," Babe admitted sincerely, taking a deep breath as if about to say something. But then he simply took a sip of soda, his eyes riveted on their friends still talking in front of them.

Bill wasn't really eager to get separated from his beautiful boy. Not just because he'd heard a lot of stories about what happened when you left your babe home with all those that had not been drafted able to try and put their paws on them. He trusted Babe. But he also knew there still was a chance he wouldn't come back to him. Or maybe he would be back different from how he was before departing, just like had happened to many that'd come back from the first war.

He didn't want to tie Babe to him before going away, not with the chance that Babe would find himself married to a different person than the one he'd fallen in love with.

Still, he was selfish enough to not want Babe to stop thinking of him.

They didn't stay at the party very late, Bill happy for the chance to say goodbye to his friends but mostly eager to be alone with his boyfriend. He knew he didn't look much the part sometimes, but he was mature enough to know he was better to rest before he had to be up early and on the train, and staying late to a party didn't really look like the best way to achieve that.

Babe should have probably gone home too, since the day after he was still supposed to be at both his workplaces, but he followed Bill like a lost puppy as soon as Bill proposed going to his house and sleeping together one last time.

Bill didn’t need to be a genius to see Babe was worried that was the last time they saw each other, no matter how much he wanted to join the ranks himself.

They tiptoed inside Bill's house, desperately trying to avoid bumping in furniture or walls even as they made their way in the darkness, not wanting to wake up anybody. Bill could hear his heart thump hard inside his chest, his blood roaring in his ears in fear somebody would walk in on them before they were locked safely inside of his room.

He knew Babe was probably as anxious as he was, for his hand was clammy in Bill's own, but still his sweet boy followed him. Babe took a deep breath when they were finally safe and sound and the bedroom door was closed and locked behind them. Bill gladly took his weight when his lover leaned against his chest, turning to press a kiss to his temple.

"We're good now."

He inhaled deeply, closing his eyes for a moment at the brush of Babe's hair to the line of his jaw when Babe nodded. He led his way towards his bed, turning on the reading light beside it to be able to properly see his lover.

Babe looked pale, and still worried, and Bill finally succumbed to the temptation of reaching out and smoothing the frown between his brows with his thumb. At least, that made Babe crack a smile, even if a stretched one.

They kissed slowly while sitting side by side on Bill's bed, gently trying to make good memories, and Bill sighed at the way Babe tilted his head to press it against Bill's hand cupping his cheek. Bill couldn't help but let his eyes roam over the pale column of Babe's neck, the mating nerve clearly visible to him.

It would have been easy to lean in and kiss him there. It would have been easy to bite him, mark him as Bill's. But he couldn't. Many of his fantasies had Babe moaning his name while Bill bit on his neck, or sucked a hickey over the nerve.

He wanted to be the one able to do it, or at least the first one in Babe's life.

"Can I-?" he tried, not really proud of the wavering of his voice.

Babe let out a soft whimper that Bill had come to recognize as the sign Babe was too deep in his arousal. A moment later Babe was nodding at him, licking his lips, the scent of his arousal filling Bill's lungs.

"Babe," he called breathlessly, terribly turned on at that easy acquiescence.

He leaned in to press his lips over the nerve, brushing them up and down to hear the hitch in Babe's breath and his boyfriend tremble in his arms even before Bill parted his lips to graze the soft skin with his teeth.

If he couldn’t mate his lover, he could at least press bruising kisses to his skin until the sign of his passage there would remain for days, remind Babe of him everytime he looked into a mirror.

“I have something for you,” he whispered between kisses when it started to be clear that they needed to take a step back or they were going to end up stripping off their clothes right away.

Not that Babe looked too keen to stop, chasing his lips when Bill leaned back. Bill gave in more than gladly, kissing him deeply even as he pulled the chain and pendant out of his pocket.

It was clear the moment Babe noticed what Bill was trying to press into the palm of his hand, his soft gasp enough to make Bill smile. He watched Babe’s eyes roam in awe over the lithe golden chain and the heart-shaped pendant.

“Oh, Bill…” Babe breathed out, slowly grazing it with the tip of a finger. “How- how much did it cost?” Babe asked in a rush, looking up at him in shock.

Bill couldn’t help a chuckle, shaking his head. He should have known that was the first thing he was going to ask. Still, he pressed a kiss to Babe’s lips in an attempt to distract him.

“It’s alright, Babe. I needed to leave you with something that would remind you of me.”

“Like I could forget you,” Babe mumbled with a shake of his head.

Bill pressed his lips to Babe’s forehead, terribly fond of him, and he raked his fingers through the short hair at the nape of his neck. “God, I love you.” He smiled, gently bumping their foreheads together before pressing his thumb to the clasp in the pendant to show Babe the pictures framed inside.

“Oh, Bill!” Babe smiled down at their pictures in the pendant, returning the little headbutt before pressing a smile to Bill’s lips. “I love it.”

“Think of me when we’re apart, Babe.” He ran his thumb over the back of Babe’s fingers, closing them around the pendant. “I swear I’ll be thinking of ya.”

Babe nodded and leaned in to take Bill into his arms, sniffing a bit as he pressed his face against Bill’s shoulder. “Just come back to me, alright?”

***

Winters didn’t even raise an eyebrow at reading Babe was tagged as omega on his papers, but Babe still didn’t feel like taking a breath, tense and nervous at the chance his new superior officer wouldn’t take kindly to someone like him managing to get into the ranks and mingling with the other guys.

But instead of frowning like others had, Winters smiled slightly when his eyes reached the part of the papers where Babe had written down Bill’s name as an emergency contact in case of heats.

"You'll be assigned to Easy. I'm sure you'll fit right in. Report to Sergeant William Guarnere, he'll get you settled." He nodded at Babe as he handed him the papers.

Babe almost ran towards the barracks where he had been told he could find Bill, his heart lodged in his throat and everything in his soul screaming at him to make it faster now that he was so close to his boyfriend.

He knew he smelled of impatience, that he was probably a strange mix of worried and eager, and that was probably what had every alpha he passed turning to stare at him, but it wasn't like he could stop and take a deep breath to calm himself.

He had barely stepped inside the barracks, empty but for Bill, sitting on a bed, giving the door his back, when he saw his lover straighten his back and turn around in a rush, eyes bulging at seeing Babe right there in front of him.

"Babe?" Bill asked, slowly getting on his feet, his voice hoarse and filled with disbelief.

Babe beamed at him, so incredibly happy he could barely breathe, let alone step closer. But Bill covered the distance between them as if pulled in towards him with a magnet, and Babe let out a gasp at finally being enveloped in Bill's arms once more.

"God, I missed you."

"What are you doing here?" Bill asked at the same time, disbelief and awe mixed together even as he held Babe so tight he squeezed the breath out of him.

"I did tell you I wanted to come!"

Bill made a soft noise in the back of his throat, sounding almost wounded, and he held him possibly tighter. "God- Babe. God." He shook his head, pressing their heads together, and for several minutes he didn't let go or loosen his grip.

It took them a while before they relocated to Bill's bed, sitting side by side and with their hands clasped together. They tried to cram months of talk in the minutes they could cut for themselves before anybody came looking for either of them.

"Last letter you sent me they hadn't drafted you yet- I was almost- I was hoping they wouldn't call you," Bill admitted with his lips pressed into a tight line.

"I did write you. Guess the mail got stuck somewhere?" Babe shook his head, growing worried the more Bill didn't look too happy about him being there. "Bill- I need to be out here and do my bit."

"But with your hands-" Bill frowned, looking worriedly at Babe's hands, running his fingers over them.

Babe shook his head. "You're the only one who knows about them here, and I'll do anything to keep them from being a problem." If he had managed to not let the doctors know of his problems he could manage to fight despite the pain. "Would you rather they sent me to another company?" he asked after a moment of silence.

He felt a rush of relief when Bill snapped his head up, looking him straight in the eyes with shock written all over them.

"No! No! Babe- I want you with me, if you have to be here!" Bill closed his eyes for a moment and exhaled deeply before looking back at Babe and leaning in to press his lips to Babe’s for the first time since they'd found each other again.

Babe tried to relax into that, even if he could still smell the sour worry in Bill’s scent. It was a little easier to try and pretend things were alright with Bill holding him tight in his arms, caressing his hair and kissing him gently.

“It’s just-” Bill started, his forehead pressed against Babe’s forehead when they broke apart. He looked like it was painful to him to find the words, and Babe tried to suppress his need to ask what it was, and leave Bill the time to pull out what he had to say. “War ain’t what they make it look like at home. You see people die, you see people get stupid, you see people- scream and bleed and come back as less than they were before.” He swallowed, a haunted look in his eyes, his mind clearly on something he had seen while deployed across the channel.

Babe cupped Bill’s face with his hands, gently rubbing his cheekbones with his thumbs, and pressed a short kiss to his lips.

BIll inhaled sharply and tried to turn away. Babe blinked in surprise when his lips only met Bill’s jawline, but just when he felt the rejection sting Bill let out a harsh noise from the back of his throat and took him once more into his arms.

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry, Babe.”

Babe sighed deeply and held tightly onto him. Bill always, no matter what, looked unshakable, as if there was nothing that could tear him down, no matter what life threw his way. Babe was pretty sure that if Babe had been someone else, Bill would have never shown his emotions as freely as he was doing that moment. He couldn’t even imagine what Bill must have lived through before being sent back to England.

He didn’t have to think hard before he unclasped the pendant he'd worn at all times since Bill had given it to him. He heard the hitch in Bill’s breath, but he simply put the lock around his lover’s neck before Bill could ask him not to.

“I think you need this more than I do, Bill, to remember these two boys and who they are.” He looked up to meet Bill’s gaze. “I love you,” he whispered, gently cupping his face. “And I’m here to stay with you and fight and go back home after.”

***

Babe fiddled with the lithe golden chain around his neck, his fingers finding time and time again the clasp to open the pendant in what had quickly become a nervous tick since the days in Hagenau.

He dropped his gaze to the pictures and brushed his thumb over Bill's, his heart squeezing in his chest at the thought of soon seeing him once more.

It had been months since the two of them had last seen each other, since Babe had helped carry Bill on a stretcher to the jeep that brought Joe and him back to the hospital. Bill had been still lucid then despite the blown up leg and the terrible blood loss. He'd still been joking, asking for a smoke, saying he was going home and getting his paycheck.

Babe had barely seen him through the unshed tears, his whole body trembling in shock at seeing his lover lying in the snow, his blood sprayed everywhere around him. Of all the people that Babe had seen get hit and bleed out, Bill was the one that he had wanted to get back home safe and sound, but there they were, Babe left back on the line with his alpha taking the fastest transport back to England to get surgery.

Somehow through all of that, Bill had even managed to find the time to tug at Babe's sleeve and hand him the necklace, pressing it onto Babe's palm. That act had almost wrenched the heart out of Babe's chest, but Bill had just smiled at him through the pain he clearly felt under the shit eating grin and the facade he was putting on for everybody.

"You're gonna need this more than I do, Babe. Come back home, yeah? But not too quickly." He huffed, gripping Babe's hand hard enough to hurt.

And yet Babe wouldn't have wanted for him to let go or relent the grip. He nodded and leaned down to press a kiss to Bill's lips, not even minding the way the metal of the lock bit into his palm.

They had sent letters back and forth since then, trying to keep in contact and let each other know that everything was alright, that neither had forgotten the other.

But Babe did know what happened back home, knew through the letters that many received from wives and husbands still in town, partners that found new lovers to make them feel less lonely while they fought on the line.

Bill was a charming, handsome man, and Babe had tried desperately to hang onto the locket and the letters, onto the picture of Bill and the memory of Bill holding him tight and promising they were going to make a life together once they were done with the war.

Still, Babe hadn't been able to avoid worrying through the train ride back to Philly. He couldn’t help but nervously fiddle with his pendant even as the train started slowing down towards the last stop on the line.

Babe lost his breath as he pressed his face to the window, trying to see the people waiting on the platform and keep his emotions under a lid despite being unable to see any familiar face in the crowd.

He swallowed around the lump in his throat and forced himself to put the locket back under his shirt together with his dog tags. He got up with everybody else and shouldered his bag, trying not to let the disappointment tear him down as he jumped onto the platform.

He was trying to convince himself that it was a working day, that everybody was probably too busy to take time off to go to the train station for him. He was so focused on talking himself out of a mood that he didn’t see the figure waving a crutch in the air until he heard somebody yell “Babe” over the crowd's voices.

Babe stopped in his tracks, barely able to breathe as he took in Bill’s figure and his huge smile. It wasn’t until after he had thrown himself into his lover’s arms that he registered the wobbly way Bill had to stand up with the crutches and the prosthetic leg he'd always said he didn’t like. It was the same moment he realized Bill’s scent was filled with happiness but also a tinge of worry, just as much as Babe’s own was, and he held the alpha even tighter, relishing in how Bill seemed just as intent in crushing him against his chest.

“God, I missed you!” he admitted in a rush, hiding his face against Bill’s neck, the crowd around them forgotten.

“Me too, darling.” Bill sighed, rubbing their temples together. “Me too. Welcome home,” he added when they finally leaned back enough to look at each other.

Babe let out a sound halfway between a sob and a chuckle, giving his lover a tight lipped smile. “Thanks. How are you?” he asked, uselessly trying to swallow down the lump still lodged in his throat. He let his eyes fall over Bill’s legs, amazed at how he couldn’t tell the difference with Bill’s pants falling down over them.

“Fine. As fine as I could be at least.” Bill shrugged, trying for nonchalant.

Babe dared look up to his eyes then, trying to brace himself for rejection. He could survive it, he told himself for maybe the five hundredth time since they had been separated at the start of the war. “Still waiting for your omega to come home, huh?”

But the shadows that had entered Bill’s gaze for a moment dissipated just like that, and Bill seemed to relax in his arms, nodding slightly as a smile spread on his lips.

“Always waiting for my Babe to be back with me.”

Babe beamed back at him, bursting at the seams with the rush of happiness that filled him. He nodded and licked his lips, lowering his eyes for a moment to gather himself before he looked once more at his lover.

“I’d say your Babe is back with you for good now.”


End file.
